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Like their favorite sports team or preferred brand of beer, everyone is partial to a vehicle make, be it Ford, GM, Chrysler, or other brand. But if you’re a drag racer or a hot rodder, there’s one brand that everyone can generally agree to agree on: the legendary Willys-Overland Motors and their classic Willys sedans and pickups of the 1930’s and 40’s.
[2]Images credit: eBay
The Willys namesake has been gone for half a century now, but the vehicles the company produced are still automotive icons and stand out anywhere they go, and this truck being auctioned on eBay is but one of the many shining examples of timeless look of these classics. This original 1942 Willys pickup [3] was transformed from a brick and lumber hauler into a true racing machine sometime between 1969 and 1970 by drag racer Geri Lynn Tarvin. Tarvin owned the truck through 2008, when the current owner took possession of it.
Originally equipped with a blown and injected 426 Hemi, the truck now sports a more tame but still potent supercharged 355 cubic inch small block Chevrolet with a full roller valvetrain, backed by a manual Turbo 350 transmission. Underneath is a full floating Dana 60 with Summer Brothers 35-spline axles, 4.56 gears, disc brakes, and the works.
The cab of the truck is an actual 1942 Willys, of which very few were made, making this quite a rare piece. The steel body and bed is mated with a fiberglass replica front end, some big meats out back, the skinnies up front, and a racey stance to deliver what is a bonafide “Pro Street” vehicle through and through. And for around $27,000, it can be yours!
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